Apparatus for paying off wire from reel-less coils



Jan. 17, 1%? J. H. RICHARDSON, JR 3,293,631

APPARATUS FOR PAYING OFF WIRE FROM REEL-LESS COILS Filed March 25, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. J/MMS PM/M/PJJWA/J/f.

BY m, mm4z mp ywz/a wrmwzy Jam. 17, E6? J. H. RICHARDSON, JR 3,298,631

APPARATUS FOR PAYING OFF WIRE FROM REEIPLESS COILS Filed March 25, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,298,631 APPARATUS FOR PAYING OFF WIRE FROM REEL-LESS COILS James H. Richardson, In, Yardley, Pa., assignor to CF dz I Steel Corporation, a corporation of Colorado Filed Mar. 25, 1965, Ser. No. 442,751 2 Claims. (Cl. 242-129) This invention relates to the paying-off of wire inan axial direction from a non-rotating coil, and more particularly, to a device for assisting or controlling the payoff of wire from a reel-less coil having a tubular reel-less core member. It relates especially to the paying-off of hard drawn wire which has a coil set or diameter cast, meaning that each turn of the wire on a coil tends to assume a curved shape when it is removed from the coil. Oil tempered wire, on the other hand possesses little or no tendency to coil and is readily paid off axially of a stationary coil.

Because of the coil set or diameter cast character of hard drawn Wire it is difficult to remove it from a supply coil by pay-off in an axial direction, and it is customary with suchv wire to rotate the coil. Rotation of the coil involves problems because of the inertia. of the coil, and

requires automatic mechanism for rotating and stopping the coil in order to prevent excessive dragduring a quick start of the wire feed, and over-run of the wire when the machine to which the wire is being fed is suddenly stopped.

It is the aim of my present invention to control the flow or passage of wire having a cast or curve from a non-rotating coil in such a manner as to permit the free withdrawal of the wire without the aid of moving parts ,or mechanism.

It is also an object of the invention to provide for the paying-off of the wire from an open traverse wound coil or package having a tubular cardboard core or center, but without flanges, or in other words, a reel-less core, so that comparatively heavy gage wire such as wire having a diameter of .1205 inch and weighing from 800 to 1000 pounds can be shipped mounted on pallets. In this way, by eliminating the reels, two-way freight charges on the reels, loan charges, bookkeeping and reel damage are eliminated. Also a coil, or coils, mounted on a shipping pallet can be placed on the pay-off platform and the wire payed olf directly from the pallet. This makes it unnecessary to handle individual reels and mount them on and remove them from the platform.

In accordance with my present invention a two-part or two-component apparatus is provided which is readily applied to a pallet package including one or more reel-less coils. The first component is a device for controlling the pay-ofi of the wire which comprises a framework structure which is placed on the uppermost coil of the package after the conventional metal straps securing the coil have been released. This control structure is advan tageously made of suitably shaped and welded steel rods, some circular, some straight and others suitably bent and forming an open-work or framework structure having a positioning or anchoring portion which projects downwardly from the center of the device and which is insertable within and fits snugly into the tubular core member, which is usually of heavy cardboard.

The central portion of the framework structure includes a wire guide ring of slightly larger diameter than the maximum diameter of the wire coil and which includes supporting members or arms which rest upon the upper surface of the coil. This structure includes also a second guide ring which is fixed above the first ring and which is concentric therewith. A third ring concentric with and smaller in diameter than the others is added under certain "ice circumstances. Above and disposed approximately on the axis of the coil, which is vertical, there is a fixed directional wire guide by which the wire is directed to the point of use such for example, as a spring-making machine.

The directional wire guide is advantageously mounted at the top of a protecting cage structure which forms the second component of the apparatus and which is applied to rest upon the pallet and which surrounds and is slightly .spaced from both the sides and upper portion of the payolf controlling device above described. When the apparatus is in operation, the automatic feed mechanism of the spring-making apparatus, or other machine to which the wire is delivered, withdraws the wire through the directional guide under a tension which can be as low as about 6 ounces. The wire unwinding from the outside of the coil is guided by the lower ring around and over the upper circumferential corner of the coil, and then, at a point where a loop would ordinarily tend to form in the wire because of its coil set or diameter cast, the Wire is supported by, or acted upon by, the upper guide ring which prevents the formation of such a loop. Although the axial draw-olf or pay-off of the wire necessarily places a twist in the wire it moves upward in straight condition to and through the directional guide and to the point of use.

As the wire is payedoff from the coil it of course travels or rotates around the lower guide ring, and the inherent stiffness of the hard-drawn wire is apt to loosen some of the exterior coils, which have a tendency to spring outwardlly away from the surface of the coil. This could lead to entanglement of the wire and also might cause physical damage to the operator. It is prevented, in accordance with the invention, by the outer component or cage structure in cooperation with the strapping which forms a part of the coil package. These strapping tapes are cut, as previously mentioned, the point of severing being on the interior of the coil. each tape are then swung upwardly and outwardly and connected to the outer cage component which is provided with horizontal circular members for the purpose of encompassing the coil or coils on the pallet. The loose expanding coils of wire are supported and restrained by these circular members of the outer cage and by the lower portions of the strapping tapes which are secured to them.

The invention will be better understood from considera tion of the accompanying drawings and the more detailed description which follows.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in vertical central section taken on line 1-1 of FIG. 2 showing the two components of the pay-01f apparatus in operative position on a pallet containing two superposed coils of wire;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device or apparatus drawn to a somewhat smaller scale;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view drawn to the same scale as FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a wire package containing two coils of wire mounted on a pallet as shipped to the user of the wire;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the wire pay-oft device ready to be applied to a coil; and

FIG. 6 is a view in elevation of the device shown in FIG. 5 but modified by the addition of a third wire-guiding ring.

When stiff wire having a diameter cast or set curvature such as hard-drawn steel wire is payed off axially from a reel-less coil there is a tendency for the wire to form loops and unless this tendency is overcome the loops will become entangled with one another so that it will be impossible to remove them and straighten out the The upper portions of a wire. In order to prevent the formation of these loops in accordance with the present invention the pay-off component or device 10 shown in FIG. is provided. This device is employed in connection with a reel-less coil such as coil 11.

In FIG. 4 a package containing two reel-less coils 11 and 12 is shown. These are shipped on a rectangular pallet 13. Coil 11 is bound by means of a plurality of strappings 14 shown as being six in number, and coil 12 is similarly bound by means of strappings 15. These strappings are usually of metal but may be of any suitable material. The two coils 11 and 12 are secured to pallet 13 in superposed position for shipping by means of two straps 16 and 17 which have sufiicient length to pass over the upper surface of the uppermost coil and then downwardly over the side edge of the pallet and across the bottom thereof to an opening at the center of the pallet such as the slot 18.

Coils 11 and 12 are provided with reel-less cores 19 and 20, of cardboard or other suitable material. These .members are hollow cylinders and form supports for winding the wire to form the coils and to assist in maintaining the shape of the coil during handling and transportation.

The pay-off device It) is an open framework structure of rigid steel rods and its central portion comprises two heavy gage rods 21 and 22 arranged at right angles to one another and disposed in the same plane, each being made of two equal length sections welded together at their central crossing point 23. At their outer ends rod members 21 and 22 support a circular friction ring 24 which has a diameter somewhat greater than the original outside diameter of coils 11 and 12.

Four vertical ring supporting arms 25 are disposed equidistant horizontally from the center of device and each have horizontal offset portions 26. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, offset portions 26 of one pair of vertical arms 25 are welded to the opposite sides of cross arm 21, and the offset portions of the other pair of arms 25 are welded to the opposite sides of cross arm 22 (see also FIG. 6). The lower portions of vertical arms 25 support at their lower ends an anchor ring 27. Similarly the upper portions of the 4 upright rods 25 are at equal distances from the center of cross arms 21 and 22 but at a greater distance therefrom than the lower portions of arms 25. At the tops of arms 25 a guide ring 28 is mounted.

The intersections of the vertical arms and the rings of the device are secured together by welding or otherwise. Anchor ring 27 and the lower portions of vertical arms 25 form a downwardly projecting central positioning or anchor portion of the device 10, which is indicated generally by reference numeral 29, and ring 28 at the upper ends of arms 25 constitutes a second guide ring for the wire being payed off as will presently appear. All three of the rings 24, 27 and 28 are concentric.

When a wire package such as shown in FIG. 4 is set in position so that the wire payed off therefrom is to be fed to a machine, such for example, as a spring-making machine, the straps 16 and 17 are cut and removed, and the six strappings 14 of the upper coil are cut about halfway up on the interior of core 19 and their upper portions are bent radially outward being ultimately disposed as will appear later. Such outward bending frees the upper end of the reel-less coil 19, and pay-off device 10 is placed in position as shown in FIG. 1. The downwardly projecting anchor portion 29 is dimensioned to be received more or less snugly within core 19.

With pay-off device 10 in position the second component of the apparatus, designated as the guiding and directing component or device is placed in position. This is a cage-like device which encloses the two coils 11 and 12 and the pay-otf device 10. This second component is designated generally by reference numeral 31 and comprises four upright posts 32, each having a tubular lower section and vertically adjustable upper rod-like sections 33. These are held in adjusted position by means of thumb screws 34. The four tubular posts 32 are held in equally spaced position by means of upper and lower horizontal circular bands 35 and 36 which are welded to the posts.

The upper portions of the upper post sections 33 are tied together by means of a ring 37 which is welded near the ends of downwardly and inwardly angled sections 38 at the tops of members 33. A directional guide tube 39 for wire 30 has both vertical and horizontal portions and the vertical portion is adjustably supported in a collar 40 by means of a set screw 41. Collar 40 is mounted at the upper ends of four upwardly inclined supporting rods 42, the lower ends of which are welded to the respective angled sections 38 of the upper post sections 33. The entrance end of tube 39 is located approximately on the axis of the coils 11 and 12.

During the paying-off of the wire some of the outer turns or coils may have a tendency to spring outwardly away from the surface of the coil. The number of coils which free themselves from the main body of the coil will depend upon the characteristics of the wire as to stiffness, resiliency, amount of diameter cast etc. Under certain circumstances, unless restrained, these loosened turns or coils might produce entanglement of the wire and possibly subject the operator to physical danger. Accordingly the upper severed portions of straps 14 which have already been bent outwardly are now bent downwardly over upper encircling band 35 and carried down to and engaged with lower band 36 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. As shown the curved sections 44 of these straps between the top edge of band 35 and the bottom edge of coil 11, together with band 35 itself constitute a cradle for collecting and supporting the several loosened coils of wire which are indicated by numeral 45 in FIG. 1.

In the operation of the apparatus the wire'30 upon leaving the surface of the coil at the lower left thereof as shown in FIG. 2 is carried farther to the left and then upwardly over the outer surface of the lower guide ring 24, the position of which would correspond approximately to the periphery of a reel or spool end if coil 11 were wound on a reel. Wire 30 is then carried farther in a clockwise direction beneath ring 37 which is supported by cage 31 and then passing over the upper guide ring 28 and turning upwardly into the entrance end of guide tube 39.

The diameter of upper guide ring 28 is approximately the diameter of coil 11 after it has been reduced to about one half of its orginal the thickness, and the elevation 'of this guide ring approaches the thickness of coil 11 although it is somewhat smaller. This places the surface of ring 28 at a location where, as the wire swings around the ring as it uncoils, a loop tends to form on account of the set curvature in the wire. The presence of ring 28 prevents' the formation of such a loop and the wire passes upwardly to guide 39 with a twist therein, but straight. In other words, the presence of lower guide or friction ring 24 corresponds to the edge or periphery of a reel end, and the presence of the upper guide ring 28 prevents the formation of a loop in the wire.

Under certain circumstances and with wire of particular stiffness and set curvature, the presence of a third ring, that is a second guide ring above ring 2 8, may be desirable. Such a third ring is shown at 46 in FIG. 6 which illustrates pay-off device 10 modified in this manner. Ring 46 is supported by upright posts 47 which have lower horizontal port-ions (hidden by ring 28), the outer ends of which are welded to this ring.

It will be understood that after the wire has been completely payed-off from coil 11, the feeding of the wire will necessarily be stopped momentarily while pay-off device 10 is removed from the cardboard core 19, and replaced in and upon the lower cardboard core 20. The end portions 43 and 44 of strappings 14 are disengaged from circular bands 35 and 36 and discarded. The six similar strappings 48 of coil 12 are cut in the same relative location (not shown) as strappings 14, and their upper end portions are carried around the upper and outside of the coil and engaged with the lower circular band 36 so as to produce supports for the loosening turns from coil 12 which are similar to the supports 44. Thereupon the feeding of wire 30 continues, continuing to unwind it from the lower coil 12, inasmuch as the wire is continuous throughout both supply coils 11 and 12.

The apparatus of the present invention guides the wire outwardly from the reel-less core and controls the position and direction of wire flow in such a way as to prevent the wire from twisting back on itself and forming a loop, thus overcoming the effect of cast or curve in the wire. The apparatus permits instantaneous stop of the machine to which the wire is fed without causing over-run of the wire, and also permits instantaneous start of the machine without excessive drag or pull on the wire, as is experienced with rotating reels or coils. It further eliminates the necessity of power driven pay-olfs, eliminates the danger to the operators which is present in connection with rotating reels, and permits direct feed to the wire-consuming machine, thus saving floor space which is usually required with rotating reels or coils. It makes possible the increase in the production speed of the Wire consuming machine, such as a coil spring machine, up to as much as 100%.

I claim:

1. A device for controlling the pay-off of wire from the exterior of a stationary reel-less supply coil having a tubular core member comprising a structure having a downwardly projecting central positioning portion insert-able within and fitting the interior of the core member, means on the structure for engaging the upper surface of the core and coil to support the structure, a lower guide ring fixed to said structure and disposed above and adjacent the upper end of the coil, the diameter of the ring being larger than the maximum diameter of the coil, a second guide ring fixed to the structure above and concentric with the lower ring, said second guide ring having a diameter corresponding approximately to the mid-diameter of the coil and disposed at an elevation above the coil corresponding approximately to the coil thickness, a directional wire guide, and means for supporting said guide centrally above the second guide ring.

2. Apparatus for paying off wire from the exterior of a stationary reel-less supply coil having a tubular core comprising a pay-off control structure having a downwardly projecting a central positioning portion insertable within and fitting the interior of the core member, means on the structure for engaging the upper surface of the core and coil to support the structure, a lower guide ring fixed to said structure, the diameter of the ring being larger than the maximum diameter of the coil, a second guide ring fixed to the structure above and concentric with the lower ring, a directional wire guide supported centrally above the second guide ring, and a cage-like structure surrounding the pay-01f control structure having a band extending around the approximate vertical center of the coil in outwardly spaced relation thereto, and including members arranged in spaced relation around such band and extending from the band to the bottom of the coil and forming with the band a cradle for supporting loose rings of wire springing away from the coil.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,312,058 8/1919 Smirle 242-128 2,566,801 9/1951 Jackson et al 242-128 2,828,091 3/1958 Bell 242-128 FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE PAY-OFF OF WIRE FROM THE EXTERIOR OF A STATIONARY REEL-LESS SUPPLY COIL HAVING A TUBULAR CORE MEMBER COMPRISING A STRUCTURE HAVING A DOWNWARDLY PROJECTING CENTRAL POSITIONING PORTION INSERTABLE WITHIN AND FITTING THE INTERIOR OF THE CORE MEMBER, MEANS ON THE STRUCTURE FOR ENGAGING THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE CORE AND COIL TO SUPPORT THE STRUCTURE, A LOWER GUIDE RING FIXED TO SAID STRUCTURE AND DISPOSED ABOVE AND ADJACENT THE UPPER END OF THE COIL, THE DIAMETER OF 